Burroughs Football: Next up, Hesperia

Friday

Oct 6, 2017 at 12:00 PM

Christopher Livingston Sports Editor senorlivingston

League play has arrived.

After the bye week, a healthy Burroughs football team will start its Mojave River League slate with a trip to Hesperia to face a Scorpion squad that has seen a reversal of the Burros' fortune this year.

Although they come into this game on a high note, beating Granite Hills on Sept. 29 49-30, the Scorpions only have one win under their belt, starting the season on a four-game skid.

The Burros, on the other hand, are coming off not only their bye week but also a game in which they easily flicked off the Barstow Aztecs 46-0. Now, as they head into the games that count, all eyes from the Victor Valley are on the Burros. And head coach Todd Mather is sure of it.

"It's tough to score points on us, but I think the message is out there," he said. "They know that you're gonna have to beat Burroughs to win the league championship."

The last time the two squads squared off was on Oct. 7, 2016, in Ridgecrest, a 45-7 victory for Burroughs. The last trip to Hesperia was on Oct. 16, 2015, a 55-21 victory for Burroughs.

What to watch for: Hesperia

LOVELESS IN LEAGUE: The Scorpions are in their second season under head coach Joe Scherf and are seeking their first league win since a 28-15 decision over Sultana on Oct. 30, 2015 – then under head coach Jeremy Topete.

"I think they have the right guy now, the guy who they want who's building the program," Mather said. "They have some athletes, they do some nice things, but we feel like we're better in certain areas. They're very basic on offense, and we feel like we have some great tendencies from them."

But now, every team in the MRL is 0-0. That doesn’t rule out surprises.

“It's the first league game, and sometimes, guys don't show too much in the preseason,” Mather said. “They'll knock you off, or surprise us, so we're ready for anything tricky. Our preseason schedule got us ready for any style of offense that someone lines up in.”

TWO GUYS BEHIND CENTER: Currently, they use a two-quarterback system composed of senior Justin Hasson and sophomore Hadden Lavars. Their numbers are nearly identical: Hasson has 121 yards passing, one touchdown and three picks; Lavars has 172 yards in the air, one touchdown, and four picks.

Like every other opponent Burroughs has faced this year not named Paraclete, the Scorpions like to keep things on the ground. The team has 899 yards, senior Lauve Williams doing most of the work with 515 to his credit. He's made six trips to the end zone and has two 100-plus-yard games this season. Hasson has also made a name for himself as a scrambler, scoring four touchdowns. Look for quarterback keepers should the Scorpions get in the red zone.

What to watch for: Burroughs

NO BANDAGES NEEDED: As mentioned earlier, the Burros are healthy. Last season was the polar opposite, especially in the run game, when it seemed that being named the tailback for the team was a curse.

This time around, Mather has had to rely less on the depth, which is strong for a predominantly senior squad.

"We're not smacking it up in practice anymore like we did last year," he said. "We're going to continue with that. We have to be physical certain times at practice, but, for the most part, we're doing a great job not getting guys banged up going into games."

SCRAMBLED: The Burros are looking to play a little more outside the pocket this time around, taking advantage of quarterback Austin Griffin's mobility. However, it could be a bit of a wink toward the league.

"Just gotta put different things on film for league opponents to see and have to practice against, get ready for," he said.

That doesn’t mean that the Burros are not going to fly as much as needed. Mather said that there has not really been a change to the gameplan, so it’ll be business as usual. Griffin-Pippin, Griffin-Ramirez, and Griffin-Sherritt connections will be made as they fit.

COVERAGE: In the Burros’ win over the Aztecs, Mather felt that there were some blown coverages from both his offensive and defensive lines that, this week, they spent many minutes of practice working on tightening.

“Guys aren't switching when they're supposed to,” Mather said. “We have to tighten some things on offense. I feel like we moved the ball, and then we got penalties. Leverage issues, we're blocking a play to the right, and we're on the wrong shoulder. We got some good O-line meetings and worked on our leverage a lot and where we're supposed to be.”

DOWN THE PIPE: Another Burros frustration in Barstow was the constant missed extra points. Mya Morales made two of three, the only two in the game out of three kickers. On Wednesday, there was a considerable amount of time spent on special teams.

"I just wanted rapid fire,” Mather said. “Just getting all the kids yelling, guys coming off the edge and get everyone yelling. Letting them get familiar with hearing all that stuff, not watching the rush, not listening to that, concentrate on kicking it down the middle.”

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